Jai Galliott

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Jai Galliott
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CitizenshipAustralian
EducationBachelor of Arts (BA)
Bachelor of Arts (Hons)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Executive Certificate in Public Leadership
Alma materMacquarie University
Charles Sturt University
Harvard University
OccupationAcademic, defence analyst, military ethicist
EmployerUniversity of New South Wales
Known forResearch on military ethics, artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons systems, cyber warfare, human enhancement, and space ethics

Jai Galliott is an Australian academic, former military officer, and defence analyst recognized as an expert on the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons systems, drones, cyber warfare, human enhancement, and space exploration.[1][2][3] He is known for his contributions to just war theory, including the concept of jus ad vim (force short of war), and has authored or edited numerous books on the moral, legal, and political challenges posed by military and civilian applications of advanced technologies.[4] Galliott has held positions at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and has led major defence-related research projects funded by the Australian government.[5]

Early life and education

Galliott worked as a part-time firefighter in a rural area while pursuing higher education, facing challenges due to his location but utilizing online study options through Open Universities Australia.[6]

He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Macquarie University, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (BA Hons) from Charles Sturt University, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in military ethics from Macquarie University.[7] He also holds an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard University.[7]

Career

Galliott began his career in the military, serving as a Royal Australian Navy officer and later as an Australian Army Research Fellow.[1] He transitioned to academia, focusing on the intersection of philosophy, technology, and defence studies, with a broad emphasis on the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies across military and civilian domains.[1] He has held various roles at UNSW, including Research Fellow and Director (or Group Leader) of the Values in Defence & Security Technology Group at the Australian Defence Force Academy.[1] As of 2025, he is an Honorary Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business and Law at UNSW Canberra.[7]

Galliott has been affiliated with international institutions, serving as a Non-Residential Fellow at the Modern War Institute at the United States Military Academy (West Point) and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford.[2][8] He is also Co-Lead for the Ethics and Law of Trusted Autonomous Systems Activity at the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre (TASDCRC).[3]

In 2019, Galliott led a major research project funded by the Australian Defence Force with over $5 million over six years, described as the largest ever investment in AI ethics by UNSW Canberra, to develop ethical AI weaponry and embed ethics in autonomous weapons systems, in collaboration with the University of Queensland.[9][10] The project aimed to investigate values of future decision-makers, guide the military on ethical and legal use of killer AI, enhance compliance with social values, understand public perceptions, and ensure human involvement in decisions.[9] Galliott emphasized potential for AI to make war more ethical by programming systems to avoid targeting protected symbols or children and preventing collateral damage.[9]

Galliott's views on autonomous weapons have evolved over time, triggering a feature article in ComputerWorld; initially supporting a ban as part of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, he later advocated for embedding ethics in their design rather than prohibition, arguing that bans could hinder humanitarian benefits and technological progress.[11] This shift has drawn criticism, including from AI Professor Toby Walsh of UNSW, who was "severely disappointed."[12] Galliott has provided submissions to parliamentary inquiries, including on the Joint Strike Fighter program in Australia and remote-controlled weapons systems in the UK.[13][14]

He has contributed to public discourse on topics like "killer robots," Havana syndrome, nuclear submarines, and cyber missile defence, appearing in media outlets such as CNN, ABC News, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age.[15][16][17][18][19]

Research and publications on emerging technology

Galliott's research explores the moral, legal, and political challenges of emerging military and civilian technologies, including lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs), unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), soldier enhancement, cyber warfare, and space exploration.[20] He has discussed concepts like the "responsibility gap" in AI-driven warfare and the need for "minimally-just" autonomy in weapons systems.[21] His work often draws on just war theory and social contract views, advocating for nuanced approaches to technology regulation.[21]

In a 2021 philosophical debate published in The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence, Galliott engaged with philosopher John Forge on the ethics of developing AI for lethal autonomous weapons.[22] Galliott argued against a blanket prohibition, emphasizing distinctions between harmful and beneficial applications, the potential for AI to prevent harm (e.g., identifying protected sites), and a positive duty for designers to embed ethical standards through forward-looking responsibility and regulatory frameworks like enhanced Article 36 reviews.[22] Forge countered that designers should abstain from weapons research entirely, as providing means to harm is morally wrong without justification, and that all such research risks unforeseeable wrongful uses, dismissing nuanced approaches.[22]

Galliott's stance on not banning autonomous weapons has also been critiqued by Toby Walsh, who in a 2015 UNSW article, refuted four of Galliott's arguments against bans.[12] Walsh emphasized the disastrous potential of an AI arms race and the need for a ban supported by experts.[12]

Work on "the Unabomber"

In his 2017 Oxford University Press chapter “The Unabomber on Robots”, Galliott draws on direct prison correspondence and interviews with Ted Kaczynski (the “Unabomber”) to explore and critique the broader implications of automation and robotics for human autonomy. The chapter situates Kaczynski’s philosophy of technology in relation to contemporary developments in robotics and artificial intelligence, arguing for a philosophy of technology geared toward human ends.[23]


United Nations Advocacy

Galliott has provided expert advice to the United Nations meetings of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, addressing participating nations on the value of employing autonomous systems[24]

Book series

Galliott is Editor of Routledge's Emerging Techologies, Ethics & International Affairs book series, publishing work at the intersection of moral issues in research, engineering and design, and ethical, legal and political/policy issues in the use and regulation of technology.[25]

Books

  • Military Robots: Mapping the Moral Landscape (Routledge, 2016).[26]
  • Super Soldiers: The Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (co-edited with Mianna Lotz; Routledge, 2015).[27]
  • Ethics and the Future of Spying (co-edited with Warren Reed; Routledge, 2016).[28]
  • Commercial Space Exploration: Ethics, Policy and Governance (Routledge, 2015).[29]
  • Big Data and Democracy (with Kevin Macnish; Edinburgh University Press, 2020).[30]
  • Lethal Autonomous Weapons (with Duncan MacIntosh and Jens David Ohlin; Oxford University Press, 2021).[31]

Articles and Chapters

  • "Closing with Completeness: The Asymmetric Drone Warfare Debate" (2012)
  • "The Unabomber on Robots: The Need for a Philosophy of Technology Geared Toward Human Ends" (2017)[32]
  • "Artificial Intelligence in Weapons: The Moral Imperative for Minimally-Just Autonomy" (2018/2019, with Jason Scholz)[21]
  • "A Taste of Armageddon: A Virtue Ethics Perspective on Autonomous Weapons and Moral Injury" (2022)

Awards and honours

Galliott received the Spitfire Memorial Defence Fellowship in 2018 for his project on military officer attitudes toward unmanned aerial vehicles, presented by General Sir Peter Cosgrove at Government House. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN) in 2021.[7] He is also a Justice of the Peace (JP) and holds the designation LFRSA (Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts).[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Jai Galliott". Australian Army Research Centre. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Jai Galliott - Modern War Institute". Modern War Institute. Archived from the original on June 21, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kate Devitt, Michael Gan, Jason Scholz, Robert Bolia (January 2021). "A Method for Ethical AI in Defence" (PDF). Defence Science and Technology Group. Retrieved July 22, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Jai Galliott (2019). Force Short of War in Modern Conflict: Jus ad Vim. Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Australian Defence Force invests $5 million in 'killer robots' research". ABC News. 2019-03-01. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Feature on Open Universities Australia" (PDF). The West Australian. 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Fellows - The Royal Society of NSW". Royal Society of NSW. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  8. ↑ Jai Galliott. "Artificial Intelligence in Weapons". Centre for Technology and Global Affairs, University of Oxford. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Australian Defence Force invests $5 million in 'killer robots' research". ABC News. 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  10. ↑ "'Killer robots' to be taught ethics in world-topping Australian research project". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  11. ↑ George Nott (2019-03-11). "Killer robot campaign defector to 'embed ethics' in autonomous weapons". Computerworld. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Toby Walsh. "We should not dismiss the dangers of 'killer robots' so quickly". UNSW Sydney. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  13. ↑ Jai Galliott. "Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Joint Strike Fighter" (PDF). Australian Parliament. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  14. ↑ "Defence Committee Written evidence". UK Parliament. 2013. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  15. ↑ "US warships sent to Korea: What to know". CNN. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  16. ↑ Jai Galliott (2018-08-31). "Elon Musk wants to ban 'killer robots'. Here's why it's a bad idea". ABC News. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  17. ↑ Jai Galliott (2016-04-15). "We must prepare for the advent of killer robots". The Age. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "Is Havana syndrome a new method of covert sabotage – or all in our heads?". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2021-08-25. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  19. ↑ "What is a nuclear submarine and why would you want one?". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  20. ↑ "Jai Galliott - Google Scholar". Google Scholar. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Jai Galliott. "Artificial Intelligence in Weapons". US Air Force Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Jai Galliott; John Forge (2021). "Debate on the Ethics of Developing AI for Lethal Autonomous Weapons" (PDF). The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence. Trivent Publishing. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  23. ↑ "The Unabomber on Robots". TheTedKArchive. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  24. ↑ "Document Viewer". Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  25. ↑ "Emerging Technologies, Ethics and International Affairs: Emerging Technologies, Ethics and International Affairs - Book Series - Routledge & CRC Press". Routledge. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  26. ↑ Jai Galliott (2016). Military Robots: Mapping the Moral Landscape. Routledge. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  27. ↑ Jai Galliott; Mianna Lotz, eds. (2015). Super Soldiers: The Ethical, Legal and Social Implications. Routledge. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  28. ↑ Jai Galliott; Warren Reed, eds. (2016). Ethics and the Future of Spying. Routledge. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  29. ↑ Jai Galliott (2015). Commercial Space Exploration: Ethics, Policy and Governance. Routledge. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  30. ↑ Jai Galliott; Kevin Macnish (2020). Big Data and Democracy. Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  31. ↑ Jai Galliott; Duncan MacIntosh; Jens David Ohlin, eds. (2021). Lethal Autonomous Weapons. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  32. ↑ Jai Galliott (2017). "The Unabomber on Robots". The TEDK Archive. Retrieved 2025-07-22.

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